listbeeMore vowel sounds
OU and OW words
Ou and ow both spell the /ow/ sound in cloud and cow. Position in the word is the best clue to which spelling to use.
- Sound
- /ow/ as in cloud and cow
- Usually taught
- 2nd grade
- Words on this page
- 24 in 2 lists
OU and OW words: word lists
Practice a list online (each word is read aloud), or open it in the worksheet maker to print a test, word search, or look-cover-write-check sheet.
ou words
12 words- out
- loud
- cloud
- house
- mouse
- mouth
- round
- sound
- found
- shout
- count
- proud
ow words
12 words- cow
- how
- now
- wow
- owl
- town
- down
- brown
- crown
- clown
- flower
- towel
How the pattern works
Ou usually comes at the start or in the middle of a word: out, cloud, mouth.
Ow usually comes at the end of a word or before a final n or l: cow, town, owl, towel.
Ow also spells long o (snow), so reading a word aloud is the way to tell which sound it makes.
Common mistakes
- Using ow in the middle before a consonant other than n or l: “clowd.”
- Using ou at the end: “cou.”
- Writing ow words with long-o spellings: “clone” for clown.
Practice ideas
- Hold up a cloud card or a cow card as each word is read to show which spelling it uses.
- Find ou and ow words in a favorite book and sort them.
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